A Volunteer Ad Lets You Pick Up the Phone to Save a Girl

A volunteer ad campaign to recruit more staff for the Samaritans support line lets pedestrians save a virtual girl by picking up the phone. Developed by a team at London's Central Saint Martins School, the ad aims to simulate the same difficult situation that Samaritans volunteers face.

The ad features a video billboard with a girl on the verge of suicide. After she picks up the phone to make a call, a payphone next to the ad begins ringing. If you pick up, a pre-recorded voice thanks you and then encourages you to become a volunteer for Samaritans. If nobody answers the ringing phone, the virtual girl is seen swallowing sleeping pills and then collapsing. It then states, "Let us not miss a single call."